Activating device for coated strip material



Dec. 28, 1954 G. A. LANG ACTIVATING DEVICE FOR COATED STRIP MATERIAL Filed Sept. 8, 1951 2 Shawls-Sheet 1 Inventor Geo/ye A. Lang Dec. 28, 1954 G. A. LANG ACTIVATING DEVICE FOR COATED STRIP MATERIAL Filed Sept. 8, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor v 'strlp of material which apparatus includes United tS. a "1 DEVICE FOR COATED STRIP -MATERIAL George Arlrangg Everett, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 8, 1951, Serial No. 245,701

8 Claims. (Cl. 118246) AcTrvATING This invention relates to a device for applying. an activating fluid to an adhesively precoated strip just prior to its application to the work. More especially the invention is concerned with such a device including a movable guide member arranged to hold the strip out of contact with the activator-applying element between periods of use.

There are available for various uses a large variety of cloth and paper strips which have been adhesively precoated and in which the coating has been dried and rendered non-tacky to enable shipment and easy handling of the material. Such strips are usually treated with a solvent or activator just prior to their application to the work by passing the strip over an applying device such as a roll dipping in a liquid solvent. It is customary, however, to activate the strip in a relatively short length, after which the interval required for the handling of the strip and its application to the work can readily be long enough to cause'the adhesive on the unused, precoated strip to be ruined by sticking to the roll if this portion of the strip is allowed to remain in contact with the activator-applying device.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for activating the adhesive upon a an improved guide member operative to hold the strip out of contact with the applying device during periods of idleness.

In accordance with features of the invention the guide member is so arranged thatit may readily be turned, by a touch of the finger, to a position where the strip is held away from the activating device. h

Another feature of the invention relates to a construc-- tion of the movable guide member by which the tension of the strip, bearing on an offset portion of the guide,

as the strip is drawn forward in preparation for application to a new piece of. work, is effective to move thepu guide member automatically back into another position where the strip will'be held against the activator applying device. To make this arrangement most effective, the guide is pivotally mounted and held in each of its operating positions" by a spring movable past dead center.

These and other features of the invention will best be understood from a consideration of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which i H Fig. l is an angular view of the whole mechanism fit) shown associated with a folder and a pair of powerdriven pressing and feedrolls;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1 adjacent to'the solvent-applying roll and showing the tiltable Fig. 3 is. a similar view butwith the strip guide upright and the strip engaging the activating roll.

In the illustrative apparatus, asolvent is applied to the lower face of a precoated strip 10 by means of an '10 activator-applying roll 12 mounted upon a supporting i table 14b'eneath an aperture 16 therein, the roll projecting slightly above the table. This roll dips in a small tank 18 in which liquid activator is maintained at the desired level by a supply receptacle 20 joined to 75 the tank 18 by a conduit 22. The supply receptacle has associated with it an inverted bottle 24 containing the liquid and adjustably mounted on the supporting table 14 by a collar 26 to determine the level in the tank. In the apparatus herein illustrated, the strip material, which so may be precoated fabric, is supplied from a roll 28 guide member in protective, substantially (i5- horizontal position; and 2;

strip at that point and then is introduced in a folder 44 which may be used to fold the strip around the adjacent margin of one or more sheets 48. The member 42 has a nearly conical portion around which the strip passes. This portion terminates in a small enlargement or button which keeps the strip from slipping off. This control member may be secured to the table 14 by a vertical screw (not shown) near its left end as seen in Fig. 1. The folded strip and the associated sheets then pass between presser feed rolls and 52, the lower of which may be power driven. The upper feed roll 50 is journaled in a block 54 pivotally held between brackets 56 projecting up fromthe table and is pressed against the work by a plunger 58 slidably mounted on the upright 32 and held down by a spring 60, the tension of which may be adjusted by a threaded sleeve 62. The folder 44 is of a type commonly employed in connection with sewing machines and it is mounted upon the supporting table 14 by means of a bracket 64.

The guide 40 is tiltably mounted upon the supporting table 14 by means of a pivot rod passing through ears 72 on a flat plate forming the mid-portion of the guide and also through the upturned ends 74 of a bracket 76 mounted upon the supporting table 14 by means of screws. This tiltable guide 40 is held in either of two positions by meansof a coil spring 80 extending between an car 82 on the guide and a lug 84 attached to the supporting table 14 near the aperture 16. This spring is so disposed that it passes the center of the pivot rod 70 and thus is effective to hold the guide either in the substantially horizontal position shown in Fig. 2 or in the vertical position shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The extent of movement of the tiltable guide is determined by contact with suitable stops which in this instance are the edge of the opening 16, when it is in vertical position, and the top of the table 14, when it is in horizontal position.

It will be observed that, while the main elongated portion of the guide is fiat or plane, the outer end of the guide has a portion 86 curved on a relatively large radius to lead the strip from the roll 28 to the mid portion of the guide plate smoothly and with a minimum of friction. It will be understood that the operator may tilt the guide to horizontal position by engaging the inner face of the curved end 86 with his finger and pressing it to the right when it is desired to interrupt the activation of the strip.

The other, inner end 90 of the tiltable guide 40 is bent laterally from the main portion of the guide and is curved on a relatively short radius so that when the guide is in vertical position as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the strip will be wrapped around a portion of the circumference of the applying roll 12. At that time the surface 92 of the curved end 90 bears upon the inner uncoated surface of the strip and serves to hold the coated, outer surface thereof against the applying roll. By reason of the use of one edge of the opening 16 as a stop to position the tiltable guide 40 vertically, the extent of the wrap of the strip about the roll 12 is greater than it would be if the guide were stopped by contact with the top of the table 14. Associated with the straight, path-determining portion of the guide 40 is a tubular or two-sided portion 94 which has 'an upturned end 96 offset from the path of the main portion thus providing another surface at the tip 98 at the other side of the strip from the surface 92. This tip 98 engages the coated, outer face of the' strip, when the guide is tilted to its horizontal position, to hold the short run of strip between it and the quarter-turn control member 42 above the level of the applying roll 12 so that there will be no spoilage of that portion of the strip.

In the operation of the device, assuming that the bottle 24 has been filled with solvent and inverted in its car- Patented Dec. 28, 1954- at the upturned or offset tip 93, will provide a force. one

component of which is effective to immediately and automatically tilt the guide member 40 from its horizontalposition to the position shown in Fig, l where it serves to hold the strip against the applying roll 12. Then, having completed a piece of Work, he will tilt the guide member a manually to the position shown in Fig. 2 and will sever the strip adjacent to the feed rolls, for example. The guide surface at the tipv 98 will then hold the strip away from the applying roll and prevent its spoilage.

Having this described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure; by Letters. Patent of the United States is:

1. In an apparatus of the characterdescribed, a support, an applying device on. the support, a. carrier for a supply of nontacky strip material, precoated on one. surface. and adapted to be drawn past said applying device to coat the latter surface of the strip, a strip-level-determining guide mounted beyond the applying device, in the direction of movement of the strip, and a positive strip guide movably mounted adjacent to the applying device, means for holding said guide in either of two positions, said guide having a surface, adjacent to the end which is nearer the applying device, which engages the uncoated' side of the strip, in one position of the guide, to hold the coated surface of the strip against the applying device and having another surface which, in the other position of the guide, engages the precoated surface of the strip to hold it clear of the applying device.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a support having an aperture, an applying device mounted adjacent to and exposed through said aperture, a guide member having a main portion which is plane for delivering strip material having an adhesive coating on one surface only to the applying device, said guide member being tiltably mounted on a pivot adjacent to the aperture and arranged to stand upright with one end contacting an edgeof the aperture or to lie substantially horizontally upon the support above the aperture, and a coil spring secured to the support and theguide member and positioned to pass the center of the pivot as the gmide is tilted, for holding said guide member in either position, the end" of said guide member adjacent to the applying device having inner and outer strip-engaging guide sur faces operative alternately to engage the uncoated' and coated surfaces respectively of the strip to force it positively against the applying device or to hold the strip away from the applying device when the strip isdrawn taut.

3. An apparatus as in claim 2 in which the outer guide surface is laterally ofiset from the plane of the main portion of the tiltable guide member so that a tension upon the strip acts against said surface toexert a pressure, one component of which is effective to tilt the guide member toward itsupright and hence its operatingposition.

4; In an apparatus of' the character described, an applying device, and means for guiding a strip of material past: said applying device in contact therewith, said guiding means comprising a strip-l'evel-determining guide beyond the applying device and a pivotally mounted guide member, said guide membenhaving, ahead of'the' applying device, a path-determining guide portion and "an upturned portion arranged, in one position, to hold the strip away from the coating device and, when tension isapplied to pull the strip, to create a pressure, one component of which is effective to-tilt theguide member to an-operative; position where'the stripengagesthe coating device.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, an applying device, means for guiding a strip of material past the applying device, said guiding means includinga control member beyond the applying device determining the path of the strip at the leaving side of the applying device and a tiltable guide member pivotally mounted at the in-going side of the applying device, the tiltable member having an upturned, substantially tubular end portion one side of which is arranged to hold the strip against the applying device in one position and the other side of which engages the other side of the strip bridging the applying device to lift it out of contact therewith, in its other position, and resilient means for holding said tiltable member in either position.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a work table having an orifice, a coating device attached to the table and projecting through said orifice, guides for a strip of material to be drawn over said device arranged before and after the coating; device, one of said guides having an elongated, strip-surrounding portion tiltably mounted adjacentto theacoating device'and having a twosided portion at the end; of the device adjacentto the coating device bent to extend laterally from the elongated portion, and means for holding the tiltable guide member either in an upright position where the strip, leaving the bent end, is wrapped about a portion of the coating device or in a position where the member is tilted to another position, said bent end in the latter position setting up suflicient friction with the strip to tension the strip whereby the latter is effective to-tilt the guidemember to its operativeposition as the stripis moved through said guides.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, a work support, a guide member having asubstantially straight mid portion of parallel plates pivoted near one end on said support, stops to limit the movement thereof to positions where the guide member issubstantially vertical or horizontal, a spring attachedtosaid' guide member and to said support arranged to pass the pivot of the guide member as the latter is moved from one position to another, said guide member having at. least one of said plates curved oppositely at its opposite ends toward one another, the curvature at one end being. sharper than at the other, said guide member. providing a two-sided portion at the sharply bent end which portion is offset from the straight mid portion.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a work table, an applying roll mounted beneath the table and projecting above it, a strip-level-determining guidebeyond the applying roll, means for supportinga supply of strip material, a pivot on. the table in front of andadjacent to the applying roll, a guide member, having opposed faces coacting with opposite faces of the strip, mounted on said pivot andv having a portion at its leaving end in which. both faces are curved: backsharply toward an intermediate portion of the. guide. thus making an offset portion, said guide having a. gradually curved leading-in end portion to receive the strip from said supply, and a spring extending. between the table and the guide member arranged toihold it either substantially horizontally in inoperative position with the. strip guided away. from the applying. roll over the ofl'setportion or in uprightoperative position with the strip wrapped about. a portion of the surface ofv the roll.

References Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS P umber Name Date 893,477 Goodard July 14,, 1908 1,149,144 Foote Aug. 3, 1915 1,171,097 Cummings Feb. 8, 1916 1,384,090 Rideout July 12, 1921 1,563,209 McIntire Nov. 24, 1925 1,774,042 S'toveret al. Aug. 26, 1930 

